fundraising
Auto Added by WPeMatico
The pre-pitch: 7 ways to build relationships with VCs
Most founders fall into an extremely common trap: Just because you produced outstanding results for the last round of investors doesn’t mean new investors will believe you. This new cohort hasn’t seen that performance firsthand, and they have no reason to trust you yet.
As a founder approaching your next round, it’s common to wonder, “How do I get this new group of investors to trust that I will perform?”
In our experience, founders who fundraise successfully are great at building relationships, and they usually deliver what we call “the pre-pitch.” This is the “we actually aren’t looking for money; we just want to be friends for now” pitch that gets you on an investor’s radar so that when it’s time to raise your next round, they’ll be far more likely to answer the phone because they actually know who you are.
But the concept of the pre-pitch goes deeper than just having potential investors be aware of your existence. Building relationships with potential future investors requires you to think less like a founder and more like a marketer — much of the relationship heavy lifting comes long before it’s time to ask for a capital commitment.
If an investor has made a deal in your space, there’s a good chance they know an earlier-round investor who could potentially be a good fit for you today.
There’s a host of advantages to the pre-pitch approach:
- Good practice: You’re not asking for money. Instead, you’re offering a sneak peek. Since your relationship-builder pre-pitch doesn’t have millions on the line, you’ll invariably be less anxious, which leads to better relationships. Remember: If it’s not a good fit, who cares?
- Candid feedback: When you’re not asking for money, you’re more likely to receive honest feedback that you might not get in a high-stakes environment.
- Set the baseline: You should go over where you’re currently at, why it’s actually not time to raise capital quite yet (the inverse of “Why Now”), and what you still have to accomplish until the time is right.
- Performance-based trust: Put your performance where your mouth is by showing your potential investor where you are today and what you expect to do in the short term. Later on, you can prove to them that you achieved what you said you would.
7 ways to build relationships with VCs
Now you’re probably wondering, “What the heck do I say to build a good relationship with that next-round investor?” Here are a few notes on how to approach the pre-pitch:
Seek the relationship, not the money
Acknowledge you’re early, but mention that you think it could potentially be a good fit later on. State it up front that you’re seeking a relationship and want to find out if you could eventually be a good fit for one another. Don’t sneak in an ask; let the relationship blossom organically.
Here’s an example: “We’re actually not raising yet, and we’re probably too early for you. But I think this is something you might be very interested in, and thought it made sense to reach out, open up a relationship and see if there might be a fit.”
Don’t waste time
Powered by WPeMatico
SOSV partners explain how deep tech startups can fundraise successfully
Startups developing so-called deep tech often find it challenging to raise capital for various reasons. At TechCrunch Early Stage: Marketing and Fundraising, two experienced investors spoke on the subject and advised startups facing a challenging fundraising path.
Pae Wu and Garrett Winther are both partners at SOSV and run the fund’s programs around biotech and hardware. SOSV doesn’t shy away from startups building complex technology, and because of this, Wu and Winther are well placed to advise on fundraising. They presented three key points targeting startups fundraising for deep tech applications, but the points are applicable to startups of any variety.
Before giving advice, the two acknowledged the nuances across the deep tech ecosystem and each industry. Their presentation is focused on general guidance applicable to nearly every startup.
Finding the right investor
The first point on Wu and Winther’s presentation sounds a bit self-serving but is based on solid advice. When building a deep tech startup, find the right investor, they said. This is general advice for startups, but according to these two, it’s even more important when building a company that might take longer for the investor to see a return.
In deep tech, it’s essential to think about founder-investor fit. And what we mean by this is understanding why an investor is even in VC in the first place. And what it is that’s driving you, the founder, to do what you do.
And so we look at this fit as a Venn diagram between founders who have a near maniacal devotion to wanting to solve a core systemic problem and investors that thrive on the unique risk profile that comes in deep tech. Because with deep tech, we’re talking about both technical risk, where maybe that insight that is core to the company merely proves that we’re no longer having to break any laws of physics to do whatever it is you’re trying to do. So there’s a big technical risk. (Timestamp: 6:09)
We, as investors, love to see methodical founders who can see the first step that will converge at the right moment of technical and business milestones.
Set obtainable goals
Breakthrough technology hardly came from sudden breakthroughs. As explained in this presentation, it’s critical to set obtainable goals that lead to the desired outcome.
Powered by WPeMatico
Khosla’s Adina Tecklu breaks down how to nail your pitch
Pitching is perhaps the single most important skill that any founder needs to hone, so not surprisingly, we kicked off our TechCrunch Early Stage 2021 — Marketing & Fundraising event with a deep dive on all the tips and tricks required to get the most out of pitching and slide decks. On hand was Adina Tecklu, a principal at Khosla Ventures, and who formerly built out Canaan Beta, the consumer seed practice at Canaan Partners.
We talked about the importance of knowing your customer (aka your potential investor), focusing on story, typical slides in a deck, the appendix slides, formatting, and then alternative formats and which to avoid in a pitch deck.
Help TechCrunch find the best growth marketers for startups.
Provide a recommendation in this quick survey and we’ll share the results with everybody.
Know your customer, in this case, your investor
We kicked off our discussion with advice that remains as valuable as it is obvious. Even today, despite the wealth of resources available on the internet to background research potential investors, founders regularly walk into their pitch meetings like deer in headlights with no sense of that particular investor’s interests, tastes, stage of investment and more. Don’t be that founder.
Key number one is know your audience. The best founders understand their users, whether that is an end consumer, or an enterprise customer. They’ve done the research to understand what motivates their customers, how they make buying decisions, and also what their customers like and don’t like as much about their own product. When fundraising, your VC essentially becomes your customer. And so before you begin pitching, or even building your deck, it’s really important to do your research beforehand to understand the firms and the partners that you intend to pitch. (Timestamp: 2:25)
If you do that right,
That knowledge allows you to proactively address any concerns that they might have. And really make sure that you position your business in a way that is both authentic, but in a way that will be well received by the VC. (Timestamp: 3:20)
- Six things venture capitalists are looking for in your pitch
- What to expect when pitching European VCs
- Should you pay $50K for your pitch deck? Yes, why the hell not?
Story-driven, not data-driven
Data is the most important source of wisdom in Silicon Valley, or so the belief holds. But the reality, particularly in early-stage investing, is that the data can only paint a partial picture of a startup and a founder’s ambition. Don’t let a dense copse of trees occlude the wider forest, which is what investors are really investing in.
Powered by WPeMatico
Dismantling the myths around raising your first check
As startups and venture capital grow in tandem, fundraising has gone from a formal affair on Sand Hill Road to a process that can happen anywhere from Twitter to Zoom.
While fundraising may no longer require a trip to California, it might depend on whether you got an invite to a private audio app. And while you may not need to be an insider, second-time founders — largely male and white — still have a competitive advantage.
If your intention is to build a company that you want to own and run indefinitely, and/or to grow more slowly and take fewer risks, traditional venture capital is not right for what you want to build.
The growing complexity of fundraising has the opportunity to make tech either inclusive or exclusive. For new founders looking to raise money, let’s dismantle the myths about raising your first check and instead focus on how investors and other successful founders describe the nuance needed to secure money.
What makes my business venture-worthy?
This question is existential, but it should be at the forefront throughout your journey as a founder. Elizabeth Yin, founding partner of Hustle Fund, says startups should be able to hit one of two goals: Reach $100 million ARR by its fifth year or get to $1 billion in valuation in the same time period.
“This is hard to do. And most businesses will never get there — not for a lack of trying — but there’s a lot of luck whether your idea has that much demand that quickly,” she added.
“I think you will know in the first year or two how ‘easy’ or ‘hard’ it is to get customers and whether you think on that trajectory you can get to $100 million a year in a few years,” Yin said. “And if it’s really hard, it doesn’t mean you throw in the towel. … There are many great companies that are not VC-backable where the founders will make a lot of money, but it just means you need to think through where to get your financing. Perhaps it’s from angels. Perhaps it’s from revenue-based financing funds. Perhaps it’s from customer crowdfunding.”
While VC is the flashy gold medal, the rapid growth of emerging fund managers means that a first check can be piecemealed together from a variety of different sources. The options for financing are seemingly endless: syndicates, public crowdfunding, VC firms, accelerators, debt financing, rolling funds, and, for the profitable few, bootstrapping.
“When people go around saying, ‘Do you want to run a VC-backable company?’ that feels weird — you don’t necessarily get to pick how fast you can grow — the market just may or may not be there,” Yin said. “There’s a lot of luck with that.”
Leslie Feinzaig, founder of Female Founders Collective, said that beyond economics, the hardest part of knowing whether your startup makes sense as a VC-backed business is understanding your own goals as an entrepreneur.
Powered by WPeMatico
When to walk away from a VC who wants to invest in your startup
Venture capitalists add value in a number of ways. For example, one of my business’ backers has a deep tech “pod” that generates events and content we are always welcomed to be a part of. Another one of our investors gives us full commercial support through its network of mentors that are there to support the business, not the VC.
Due diligence works both ways, and entrepreneurs shouldn’t be in a rush to take investment from anyone that offers it.
I might not expect that from every VC, but if they promise those “assets” by saying that they are here to drive innovation and growth, then I expect them to deliver, just as I have to back up the claim of having a team of supersmart machine learning researchers.
They might know the forks in the road, directions to take, and who to speak to based on having been through the process with similar companies. They might have venture partners that can mentor you and a network of investors that can participate in follow-on rounds. That is where they add value.
The best ones will seek to connect with you personally. They’ll have prepared thoroughly beforehand and are brimming with questions. While they may have preconceived and potentially ill-informed ideas, they demonstrate enthusiasm by starting sentences with “what if,” and they leave me emboldened but contemplative. I fully expect to be provoked in the right way.
However, some also play God. One experience offered up a major warning sign, one that would make me walk on by.
I’m pleased to say my business has some outstanding investors who totally get it. Our investors’ head of investment told representatives at one of New York’s top funds that one of their leading deep tech portfolio companies was coming to town for a “blitz meeting session.” They announced that they were committing to the round I was raising and that we were looking for a new lead investor.
So, put it this way: I wasn’t a guy who walked off the street with a crazy idea, but you might have thought otherwise, given the experience that followed. To be clear, I don’t expect all VCs to open their arms and embrace everyone, but there are rules of engagement.
The transparency and value of DocSend
After a very positive morning meeting, I’d scheduled a couple of hours for a quick chance to grab a breather at my hotel. Flicking through my phone, an email from the associate at the VC I was due to meet next pinged into my inbox.
“Hey Ofri, it’s Jessica [not her real name], really sorry, I’m not feeling great so am thinking I might cut the day short. I know you’re only in New York the next two days, so let’s catch up later on a call and next time you’re over I’m sure we can revisit.”
I started composing a polite response: “Really sorry to hear that. Absolutely fine to reschedule. Let me know your availability, etc., etc.” In truth, I was irritated — this had been in the diary for two months and was one of six meetings scheduled. I was not sorry; I was annoyed.
Powered by WPeMatico
To buy time for a failing startup, recreate the engineering process
In non-aerobatic fixed-wing aviation, spins are an emergency. If you don’t have spin recovery training, you can easily make things worse, dramatically increasing your chances of crashing. Despite the life-and-death consequences, licensed amateur pilots in the United States are not required to train for this. Uncontrolled spins don’t happen often enough to warrant the training.
Startups can enter the equivalent of a spin as well. My startup, Kolide, entered a dangerous spin in early 2018, only a year after our Series A fundraise. We had little traction and we were quickly burning through our sizable cash reserves. We were spinning out of control, certain to hit the ground in no time.
Kolide had a lot going for it that enabled me to recover the company, but by far the most important was that we recognized we were in a spin very early, and we had enough cash remaining (and therefore sufficient time) to execute a recovery plan.
All spins start with a stall — a reduction in lift when either the aircraft is flying too slowly or the nose is pointed too high. In Kolide’s case, we were doing both.
First, we raised too much money too fast. In order to justify the post-money valuation that came with the raise, we set unattainable goals. To make matters worse, we lacked the confidence in our product and strategy, so we developed our solution with hesitancy, underspending in critical areas. As a result, we were flying too steep and too slow. We stalled.
If a stall isn’t corrected promptly, a spin can develop. Flat spins are one of the worst. Once the flat spin starts, there are a number of techniques experienced pilots should perform to recover the aircraft. Nearly all of these techniques require a critical resource, altitude — or, put another way, time.
Just like amateur pilots, startup CEOs don’t receive spin recovery training. When Kolide was spinning out of control, the vast majority of the advice I received was to cut our losses and sell the company or return the money to the investors.
At the time, I didn’t find any promising examples of companies with these same problems successfully recovering; I found only smoldering wreckage. By February 2019, my co-founders departed.
Despite this tell-tale sign of imminent demise, I was ultimately able to recover and put us on track for a great fundraise. Here’s how I recreated the engineering process.
Buying time
Kolide had a lot going for it that enabled me to recover the company, but by far the most important was that we recognized we were in a spin very early, and we had enough cash remaining (and therefore sufficient time) to execute a recovery plan. Even waiting just a few more months would have likely changed the outcome.
Powered by WPeMatico
What the MasterClass effect means for edtech
MasterClass, which sells a subscription to celebrity-taught classes, sits on the cusp of entertainment and education. It offers virtual, yet aspirational learning: an online tennis class with Serena Williams, a cooking session with Gordon Ramsay. While there’s the off chance that an instructor might actually talk to you — it has happened before — the platform mostly just offers paywalled documentary-style content.
The vision has received attention. MasterClass is raising funding that would value it at $2.5 billion, as scooped by Axios and confirmed independently by a source to TechCrunch. But while MasterClass has found a sweet spot, can the success be replicated?
Investors certainly think so. Outlier, founded by MasterClass’ co-founder, closed a $30 million Series C this week, for affordable, digital college courses. The similarities between Outlier and its founder’s alma mater aren’t subtle: It’s literally trying to apply MasterClass’ high-quality videography to college classes. This comes a week after I wrote about a “MasterClass for Chess lovers” platform launched by former Chess World Champion Garry Kasparov.
Two back-to-back MasterClass copycats raising millions in venture capital makes me think about if the model can truly be verticalized and focused down into specific niches. After 2020 and the rise of Zoom University, we know edtech needs to be more engaging, but we don’t know the exact way to get there. Is it by creating micro-learning communities around shared loves? Is it about gamification? Aspirational learning has different incentives than for-credit learning. In order to be successful, Outlier needs to prove to universities it can use MasterClass magic for true outcomes that rival in-person lectures. It’s a harder, and more ambtious promise.
My riff aside, I turned to two edtech founders to understand how they see the MasterClass effect panning out, and to cross-check my gut reaction.
Taylor Nieman, the founder of language learning startup Toucan:
Although I do love how these models try to lean into this theme of “invisible learning” like we leverage with Toucan, it faces the same issues as so many other consumer products that try to steal time out of people’s very busy days. Constantly competing for time leads to terrible engagement metrics and very high churn. That leads me to question what true learning outcomes could occur from little to no usage of the product itself.
Amanda DoAmaral, the founder of Fiveable, a learning platform for high school students:
Masterclass is important for showing us why educational content should be treated more like entertainment. All of our bars for content quality is much higher now than it ever was before and I’m excited to see how that affects learning across the board.
For students, it’s about creating environments that support them holistically and giving them space to collaborate openly. It feels so obvious that these spaces should exist for young people, but we’ve lost sight of what students actually need. At my school, we built policies that assumed the worst in students. I want to flip that. Assume the best, be proactive to keep them safe, and create ways to react when we need to.
Anyways, that’s just some nuance to chew on during this fine day. In the rest of this newsletter, we will focus a lot on tactical advice for founders, from the money they raise to the peacock dance they might want to do one day. Make sure to follow me on Twitter @nmasc_ so we can talk during the week, too!
The peacock dance
You know when male peacocks fan their feathers to court a lover? That, but for startups trying to get acquired. As one of our many rabbit holes on Equity this week, we talk about Discord walking away from a Microsoft deal, and if that deal ever existed in the first place or if it was just a way to drum up investor excitement in the audio gaming platform.
Here’s what to know: Discord is reportedly pursuing an IPO after walking away from talks with multiple companies that were looking to acquire the audio gaming giant.
Discord aside, the consolidation environment continues to be hot for some sectors.
- To sell or not to sell: Lessons from a bootstrapped CEO
- Once VMware is free from Dell, who might fancy buying it?
Image Credits: VectorInspiration / Getty Images
Even venture capital knows that the future isn’t simply venture capital
Clearbanc, a Toronto-based fintech startup that gives non-dilutive financing to businesses, has rebranded alongside a $100 million financing that valued it at $2 billion. Now rebranded as Clearco, the startup wants to be more than just a capital provider, but a services provider, too.
Here’s what to know: The startup has been on a tear of product development for the past year, launching services such as valuation calculators or runway tools. It’s a step away from what Clearbanc originally flexed: the 20-minute term sheet and rapid-fire investment. I talk about some of the levers at play in my piece:
Many of Clearco’s newest products are still in their infancy, but the potential success of the startup could nearly be tied to the general growth of startups looking for alternatives to venture capital when financing their startups. Similar to how AngelList’s growth is neatly tied to the growth of emerging fund managers, Clearco’s growth is cleanly related to the growth of founders who see financing as beyond a seed check from Y Combinator.
- How are VCs handling diligence in a world where deals open and close in days, not months
- Clearbanc rebrands into a unicorn
- After going public, once-hot startups are riding a valuation roller coaster
Abstract human brain made out of dollar bills isolated on white background. Image Credits: Iaremenko / Getty Images
Don’t market your opportunity away
Keeping on the theme of tactical advice for founders, let’s move onto talking about marketing. Tim Parkin, president of Parkin Consulting, explained how startup founders can use marketing as a tool to stand out in the noisy environment. Differentiation has never been harder, but also more imperative.
Here’s what to know: Parkin outlines four ways that martech will shift in 2021, strapped with anecdotes and a nod to the importance of investing in influencers.
- Customer care as a service: Outsourcing can help your startup wow clients 24/7
- 5 creator economy VCs see startup opportunities in monetization, discovery and much more
- Time-strapped IT teams can use low-code software to drive quick growth
Red ball on curved light blue paper, blue background. Image Credits: PM Images / Getty Images
Around TechCrunch
Your humble yet favorite startup podcast, Equity, got nominated for a Webby! Me and the team need your help to win, so please vote for us here. Your support means a ton.
This newsletter will always be free, but if you do want to support me, feel free to use code STARTUPSWEEKLY for 25% off a subscription to Extra Crunch.
Across the site
Seen on TechCrunch
The rise of the next Coinbase, thanks to Coinbase
Tiger Global backs Indian crypto startup at over $500M valuation
Early Coinbase backer Garry Tan is keeping the ‘vast majority’ of his shares because of this deal
Seen on Extra Crunch
Dear Sophie: How can I get my startup off the ground and visit the US?
How to pivot your startup, save cash and maintain trust with investors and customers
How startups can ensure CCPA and GDPR compliance in 2021
Image Credits: TechCrunch
Thanks for reading along today and everyday. Sending love to my readers in India and everyone around the world that is facing yet another deadly surge of this horrible disease. I’m rooting for you.
Powered by WPeMatico
Let’s talk about gaslighting and fundraising
“Most of the startups I give advice to about how to raise venture capital shouldn’t be raising venture capital,” an investor recently told me. While the idea that every startup isn’t venture-backable might run counter to the narrative to the barrage of funding news each week, I think it’s important to double click on the topic. Plus, it keeps coming up, off the record, on phone calls with investors!
As venture grows as an asset class, the access to capital has broadened from a dollar perspective, but I do think the difficulties that remain is an important dynamic to call out (and something no one talks about during an upmarket). Beyond the fact that only a small subset of startups truly can pull off scaling to the point of venture-level returns, it is still hard for even qualified founders to raise venture capital. Venture capital is still a heavily white, male-led industry, and as a result contains bias that disproportionately limits access for underrepresented founders.
- So, you want to raise a Series A
- Understanding how fundraising terms can affect early-stage startups
- Four strategies for getting attention from investors
- Investors discuss alt-financing and the role of venture capital
- Building the right team for a billion-dollar startup
Eniac founding partner Hadley Harris applied this dynamic to the current market boom in a recent tweet: A lot of people are misunderstanding this VC funding market. More money is flowing into the market but the increase is not evenly distributed. The market believes winners can be much bigger but not necessary that there will be more winners. It’s still very hard for most to raise a VC.
To say otherwise is to gaslight the early-stage or first-time founders that have spent months and months trying to raise their first institutional dollars and failed. So ask yourself: Seed rounds have indeed grown bigger, but for who? What comes at the cost of the $30 million seed round? Are the founders that can raise overnight from diverse backgrounds? Are investors backing first-time founders as much as they are backing second- or third-time entrepreneurs?
The answers might leave you debating about the boundaries, and limitations, of the upcoming hot-deal summer.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the disconnect between due diligence and fundraising right now. Now we’ve moved onto the disconnect, and bifurcation, within first-check fundraising itself. There is so much more we can get into about the fallacy of “democratization” in venture capital, from who gets to start a rolling fund to the lack of assurance within equity crowdfunding campaigns.
We’ll get through it all together, and in the meantime make sure to follow me on Twitter @nmasc_ for more hot takes throughout the week.
In the rest of this newsletter, we will talk about fintech politics, the Affirm model with a twist, and sneakers-as-a-service.
Ex-Coinbase talks politics
The inimitable Mary Ann Azevedo has been dominating the fintech beat for us, covering everything from the latest Uruguayan unicorn to Acorn’s scoop of a debt management startup. But the story I want to focus on this week is her interview with ex-Coinbase counsel & former Treasury official, Brian Brooks.
Here’s what to know: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong notoriously released a memo last year denouncing political activism at work, calling it a distraction. In this exclusive interview, Brooks spoke about how blockchain is the answer to financial inclusion, and argued why politics needs to be taken out of tech.
We don’t want bank CEOs making those decisions for us as a society, in terms of who they choose to lend money to, or not. We need to take the politics out of tech. All of us do a lot of different things, and we have no idea on a given day, whether what we’re doing is popular with our neighbors or popular with our bank president or not. I don’t want the fact that I sometimes feel Republican to be a reason why my local bank president can deny me a mortgage.
- Coinbase’s monster Q1 in context
- Crypto trading on Robinhood spiked to 9.5M customers in first quarter
- The Cult of CryptoPunks
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch
The Affirm for X model
While Affirm may have popularized the “buy now, pay later” model, the consumer-friendly business strategy still has room to be niched down into specific subsectors. I ran into one such startup when covering Plaid’s inaugural cohort of startups in its accelerator program.
Here’s what to know: Walnut is a new seed-stage startup that is a point-of-sale loan company with a healthcare twist. Unlike Affirm, it doesn’t make money off of fees charged to consumers.
- Walnut wants to crack open flexibility for healthcare bills
- Inside Affirm’s IPO filing: A look at its economics, profits and revenue concentration
- As BNPL startups raise, a look at Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay earnings
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch
Everything you could ever want to know about StockX
In our latest EC-1, reporter Rae Witte has covered a startup that leads one of the most complex and culturally relevant marketplaces in the world: sneakers.
Here’s what to know: StockX, in her words, has built a stock market of hype, and her series goes into its origin story, authentication processes and a market map.
- How StockX became the stock market of hype
- Authentication and StockX’s global arms race against fraudsters
- Where StockX fits in the business of sneakers
- The consequences of scaling up sneaker culture
Image Credits: Nigel Sussman
Around TechCrunch
Found, a new podcast joining the TechCrunch network, has officially launched! The Equity team got a behind-the-scenes look at what triggered the new podcast, the first guests and goals of the show. Make sure to tune into the first episode.
Also, if you run into any paywalls while browsing today’s newsletter, make sure to use discount code STARTUPSWEEKLY to get 25% off an annual or two-year Extra Crunch subscription.
Across the week
Seen on TechCrunch
Okta launches a new free developer plan
New Jersey announces $10M seed fund aimed at Black and Latinx founders
Education nonprofit Edraak ignored a student data leak for two months
6 VCs talk the future of Austin’s exploding startup ecosystem
Dear Sophie: Help! My H-1B wasn’t chosen!
Seen on Extra Crunch
5 machine learning essentials nontechnical leaders need to understand
How we dodged risks and raised millions for our open-source machine language startup
Giving EV batteries a second life for sustainability and profit
And that’s a wrap! Thanks for making it this far, and now I dare you to go make the most out of the rest of your day. And by make the most, I mean listen to Taylor’s Version.
Warmly,
Powered by WPeMatico
Startups, Supreme, and soft-circling your way to an investment
In an Extra Crunch Live this past week, Cleo Capital founding partner Sarah Kunst broke down what founders can learn from Supreme, a sought-after streetwear brand. She argued that founders, similar to Supreme, should build a brand around themselves that is so well-respected and has clout that whenever they start something new, investors will line up.
“A Supreme shirt that costs $100 bucks in the store will cost $1,000 online so, as an investor, I am just a kid on the street corner flipping sportswear,” Kunst mentioned. “Who do I think is going to be an investment with such velocity that getting in early is going to be more than worth it as they grow.”
I think this is the best framing I’ve seen about how to drum up excitement for a startup as a founder. FOMO isn’t a strategy, it’s a tactic. What really works, as Kunst alluded to, is when founders can point to key insights they’ve had throughout their career beyond the context of a fundraising process. In other words, anyone can create a nice t-shirt and slap a logo on it. Which founder in this sector is going to give it meaning? It might be the one with the big former exit, the one that was the first Black woman to ever build a unicorn, or the one that was on the ground facing the pain point they now want to solve.
We get into how to build a fundraising process, the concept of soft-circling an investor and what Kunst says is one of her biggest pet-peeves in a pitch deck on the site, but I wanted to give you that sneak peek for now.
- Pregame Y Combinator Demo Day with Equity
- The lightning-fast Series A (that was 3 years in the making)
- Hear how Poshmark went from Series A to the public markets with Manish Chandra and Mayfield’s Navin Chaddha
Saying ‘yes, please’ to no code
This week, Airtable was valued at $5.77 billion from a fresh Series E fundraise.
Here’s what to know: As we discussed on Equity, Airtable is far more than a savvy Excel sheet with bells and whistles. It is one of the leaders in the no-code movement, and founder Howie Liu recently opened up its API to promote developer innovation atop its platform.
- 3 steps to ease the transition to a no-code company
- Okay, the GPT-3 hype seems pretty reasonable
- AI fintech products are operating at scale and investor interest is maturing
Image Credits: Cadalpe (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
A seedy asset class
Per Climate Editor Jonathan Shieber, farmland could become the next big asset class modernized by marketplace startups.
Here’s what to know: One startup, AcreTrader, is trying to create a Robinhood for buying farmland, which I think is indicative of how lucrative some view a patch of land. CEO Carter Malloy thinks that while private equity often gets press for being in the land game, most land is owned by smaller ownership through families.
“Over the last few months, we’ve consistently seen our offering sizes grow while our funding windows shrink, showcasing the fast-growing desire surrounding this resilient asset class,” he said.
- Shell’s Gamechanger Accelerator selects three companies for its energy transition accelerator
- New markets emerge for carbon accounting businesses as cities like LA push proposals
More places for investors to throw their money reminds me of two other stories for you to check out:
- Gumroad wants to make equity crowdfunding mainstream
- Crowdfunding limits are poised to change next week, but most VCs aren’t paying attention — yet
A green row celery field in the Salinas Valley, California USA. Image Credits: Pgiam (opens in a new window)/ Getty Images
Around TechCrunch
Consider these upcoming notes as the coupon section for your early-stage founder and investor dreams.
First up, I’m tossing you a discount code to our TechCrunch Early Stage conference, our two-day virtual event for founders, investors and operators. Use code “TCARTICLE” to get 20% off your ticket so you can attend super cool events like how to bootstrap with Calendly’s Tope Awotona and OpenView’s Blake Bartlett, how to pitch your Series A fundraise with Kleiner Perkins’ Bucky Moore, and finance for founders with Alexa von Tobel.
Secondly, we are already well into planning TechCrunch Disrupt 2021! Grab super early-bird passes for less than $100, to attend our all-virtual event.
Thirdly, thank you for all the support. DM me any questions you might have, and I really hope to see your lovely faces there.
Across the week
Seen on TC
Uber under pressure over facial recognition checks for drivers
5 trends in the boardrooms of high-growth private companies
Forget medicine, in the future you might get prescribed apps
Tech companies should oppose the new wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation
Seen on EC
Social+ payments: Why fintechs need social features
Snowflake gave up its dual-class shares, should you?
MaaS transit: The business of mobility as a service
Survey: Share feedback on Extra Crunch
Talk next week,
N
Powered by WPeMatico
Extra Crunch Live is back in 2021, connecting founders with tech giants and each other
In April 2020, when the entire world was laser-focused on the coronavirus pandemic, we realized that startupland was in unprecedented territory. How should startups navigate fundraising, operations, and better understand the market?
In a matter of a couple weeks, we spun up a little series called Extra Crunch Live, giving Extra Crunch members the chance to hear from and connect with leaders across the industry. We brought on some of the biggest names in tech and VC, including the likes of Roelof Botha, Kirsten Green, Zach Perret, Charles Hudson, Aileen Lee, Mark Cuban, Howard Lerman, Niko Bonatsos and Alexa Von Tobel — and the list could go on and on and on.
Somehow, we did 44 episodes of the show in 2020, the year of our Lord.
By any measure, it’s been a huge success. But we’re not ones to rest on our laurels here at TechCrunch. Which is why I’m thrilled to announce Extra Crunch Live 2.0.
In 2021, we’ll be tweaking the format of ECL to provide even more interactivity between founders and audience members and the speakers we host on the show. You’re going to love it.
What’s New:
- Series A – Learn how others have fundraised! We’ll have a segment dedicated to hearing from founder/investor duos who walk us through the Series A pitch deck that led to investment.
- Pitch Deck Teardowns – Extra Crunch members will have the opportunity to submit their pitch deck and get feedback from our guests, which will include VCs and founders (EC members can submit their pitch decks right here!).
- Live Pitch-offs – Audience members can raise their hand to practice their elevator pitch in front of the audience and get real-time feedback from VCs.
- Networking!! – The Extra Crunch membership is a community. ECL will be an opportunity to meet your fellow audience members, even in a virtual environment. Who knows? Maybe you’ll meet your next co-founder or investor!
- Consistency – ECL will always be at 12pm PT/3pm ET on Wednesdays. When it comes to your calendar, set it and forget it.
We’re super excited about our ECL plans for 2021 and we hope you are, too. More on upcoming speakers soon.
Remember, Extra Crunch Live events are for EC members only, so if you haven’t joined Extra Crunch, get over here!
Powered by WPeMatico